NFPA Hosting Advanced Hydraulics Conference at CONEXPO 2026
The National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) has announced it will host an advanced hydraulics conference for the fluid power engineering community at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026.
NFPA's conference will take place over 2 days and run in parallel with CONEXPO which takes place March 3-7, 2026 in Las Vegas, NV. Per the association, the conference will offer off-highway vehicle and other fluid power engineers with information on the latest advances in hydraulic technology.
Tentative session topics envisioned for the NFPA conference will focus on the following:
- Hydraulic system designs, architectures, and products optimized for performance on off-highway vehicles with electrified powertrains.
- Thermal management strategies for hydraulically-actuated, electrified off-highway vehicles.
- Improvements in hydraulic system efficiency, especially those that help to increase battery life on electrified off-highway vehicles.
- Strategies for reducing the volume and harshness of hydraulic noise on electrified off-highway vehicles.
- Hydraulic data collection and utilization strategies that provide system or machine-level performance improvements.
- Hydraulic systems that operate in partial or fully autonomous modes.
- Cutting-edge research innovations that may change the use or application of fluid power technologies.
NFPA intends to send out a call for presentations later in 2025.
Hydraulics Conference to Enhance Fluid Power Presence at CONEXPO
By hosting the 2-day advanced hydraulics conference at CONEXPO, NFPA will help enhance the fluid power information available to attendees at the event. CONEXPO is one of the biggest events for the construction equipment industry — which is the largest customer market for fluid power, particularly hydraulics — and thus an important show for the fluid power sector.
It was announced in 2023 that after several years of co-locating NFPA's International Fluid Power Exhibition (IFPE) with CONEXPO, that IFPE would not be a part of CONEXPO 2026. However, NFPA and organizers of CONEXPO, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), emphasized that fluid power and other component technologies would still remain an important part of the triennial event.
The association's confirmed in 2024 that a components concentration area will be a part of the larger CONEXPO 2026 exhibition space. This is something many European trade shows, like bauma and Agritechnica do to help make it easier for attendees to find the various components for which they may be looking.
NFPA will remain a supporting organization for CONEXPO 2026, and has been working closely with AEM to ensure hydraulics and pneumatics are included within the components area and that past qualifying IFPE exhibitors continue to get the promotion and exhibition space they desire.
Read the articles below for more about IFPE no longer being located at CONEXPO and the efforts being made by NFPA to ensure a continued presence of fluid power at the event.
What is the Future of IFPE?
The association is encouring interested fluid power companies to exhibit at the event which will help ensure hydraulics and pneumatics have a good presence at CONEXPO 2026. And by now also hosting a 2-day conference, there are even more opportunities for the fluid power sector to showcase its advancements and help educate the industry.
"NFPA member companies represent the cutting-edge technologies that vehicle engineers increasingly need to incorporate into their machine systems and designs," said NFPA President and CEO Eric Lanke. "And they will be heavily represented as presenters in our education conference. Combining that technical content with hands-on demonstrations of their technologies on the CONEXPO show floor will provide a unique educational experience for their primary customers."
